Titanium Alloys for Biomedical Applications

Titanium and its alloys are used widely in biomedical applications. Early work was more concerned with utilising their excellent corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. Now, however, the trend is to make more use of their good strength/weight characteristics. Operating titanium alloys under stress, particularly if it is cyclic in nature, introduces other problems of design that research in other fields, such as the aerospace industry, is already addressing. Such problems include the role of microstructure and texture, defect tolerance and stress corrosion susceptibility. The present paper provides a brief introduction to these topics with a view to influencing future implant design so as to avoid catastrophic inservice failures.